Tune Into Technology: Integrating Technology into Reading

I'm linking up with iTeach 1:1 and Learning to the Core to share some exciting ways of incorporating technology into your classroom.

Week 1 Theme: Integrating Technology into Reading

For reading, I use the guided reading format in which the students are either reading with me for 30 minutes or they're at a literacy based station for 30 minutes.  

Top 5 Ways to Integrate Technology into Reading-

Literacy Station Style

1. Edmodo (Technology Station)

It's the safe, school version of Facebook allowing students to post questions, comment on questions within their feed and even message the teacher directly.  We use Edmodo to post our reaction to our latest read aloud book.

2. Spelling City (Word Work Station)

I use Spelling City to personalize spelling lists for students who may need additional practice.  This has been a excellent tool to use when trying to differentiate for the needs of my students.

3. BrainPOP (Research Station)

Love it and so does my class!  My students watch the featured video (which changes daily) and follow-up with a summarizing activity in their Literacy Notebook.  It's so exciting to see their responses because BrainPOP offers high-interest topics that the kids love! 

4. National Geographic Kids (Research Station)

Similar to BrainPOP, my students use the National Geographic Kids to watch high-interest videos on a topic of their choice.  Before watching the video, students make predictions and summarize their factual findings at the end.  

5. Google Drive (W.E.B. [We Enjoy Books] & Response Station) 

This spring, I was lucky enough to pilot Google Drive with my class.  Students created a Google account that allowed them access to only Google Drive.  (This was thanks to the technology department within my district.)  The students used Google Drive to work on their typing skills by sharing their weekly literacy response with me.  This was a huge hit and I can't wait to get it up and rolling again in the fall.  

Join the fun and link up to share your ideas! 

Enjoy,

Making a Move

It's finally summer break and I feel like June has already flown by.  It's in an out before I can even tackle any projects that I want to do for school.  That might have something to do with the fact that I:

jumped a plane to Florida for a vacation.

just finished working on district curriculum projects.

     

completed a few around the house projects.

woke up to a flooded basement. 

Even with June being a busy month, I've still had time to make the move to Bloglovin'.  It's the latest craze because it keeps you updated with the latest blogs you're following.  <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5562943/?claim=nksbgwuuwyw">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I've also been checking in on how my students are doing with Sumdog and it continues to be a hit!  I was rather surprised considering that it's the end of June and I figured the excitement would have faded by now.  This definitely puts a smile on my face knowing that my students are continuing their practice even into the middle of summer vacation!

Enjoy,

Sumdog

With summer quickly approaching, I was on the hunt for ideas for summer practice for my kiddos. My best friend, Christy (who happens to be a third grade teacher), recommend the website Sumdog.  I had never heard about it before so I decided to check it out and see what it's all about.

Here's what I've found:

1. It offers fun and exciting games that kids across the world or within your school can play together.
2. The questions that are offered are geared specifically for a students to improve on weakness areas.
3. As the teacher, you can set goals for students by choosing from specific grade leveled skills aligned to the Common Core.
4. They can earn coins that will allow them to dress up their uniquely created avatar in the Sumdog store.

Now, this is only what I've found out from my first time exploring, but I'm sure that the website has way more to offer.  It appears that most of their math games are free, but some also require a subscription.  They do offer a language arts and a writing component (available soon), but I believe that these areas may also only be available through a subscription. 

I'm planning to introduce my students to this website this week and let the exploring and practice begin!  I'll keep you posted and hopefully this will be a HUGE SUCCESS!

Ps...Click under the teacher tab and you'll be provided with a video and more information about what they have to offer.

Enjoy,

 

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of it being Mother's Day, I have a special video that I'd like to share.  On Friday, I shared this video with my class and they loved it.  I heard about Kid President from my teammate's maternity sub.  She had originally introduced me to the Kid President Pep Talk video, which is also fantastic and great to share with kids (see below).


Kid President- An Open Letter to Moms

Kid President- Pep Talk

Enjoy,

Earth Day

It's been doing nothing but raining cats and dogs here the past few days.  Better yet, it's been raining on and off for the past two weeks.  I love mother nature (cough, cough)!

In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, I've created a freebie for you to use in your classroom.  My students will be completing this tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.  For the first part, they will need to come up with a 50 word (Yes, 50 words!) sentence about Earth Day.  Then, students will have to thinking creatively as they slim that sentence down to just 5 words!  They'll love it, I promise!

Enjoy celebrating!

Pencil Sharpener Battle

We've all been through it before on a daily basis.  I'm talking about the battle with the pencil sharpener and I've finally WON!

Sharpening pencils has become one of my pet peeves (especially while I'm teaching).  Therefore, my students know that they need to sharpen their pencils during appropriate times.  However, it never fixed any of the problems that I continued to run into.  After my most recent battle, I was DONE!  I decide to try out the sharpener that all the teachers are talking about....the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener.

SUCCESS!  I'm not joking!  This sharpener produces a sharp point (EVERY TIME) and it's quiet enough that it doesn't bother me if a student needs to sharpen their pencil while I'm teaching.  I even have teachers from other classrooms coming into my classroom to use this new GEM.  

The only downfall that I've found is that colored pencils don't work.  The colored pencil is so soft that the tips break off inside and prevent the next pencil from sharpening to a fine point.  Therefore, we've reverted back to the electric sharpener for those.

I would definitely recommend this sharpener to any of my fellow teachers and for those future teachers!  I have not been paid by the company for any of this, but I thought that an honest opinion may help some fellow bloggers finally win the battle!

Enjoy,

Last Chance!

You heard me right and now is your last chance to snag a free $10.00 gift card toward Educents.

Educents is a "Groupon-like" website that will be launching on TOMORROW and providing teachers with daily deals on educational products.

What are you waiting for???  Click on the link below to sign-up and snag your free deal!

Educents

Enjoy,